To Tame a Brute Wyvern
by ChurlBuddeh
Summary: When Monster Hunter Ikara has a sudden encounter with a Deviljho during a simple egg quest, she becomes intrigued with its motives and behaviors, and decides that she will wipe out this brutal creature's stereotypes with her affection - even if it kills her.
1. Egg Quest

(Setting: Moga Village)

"Hey, Ikaraaaa! Wake up, it's quest time!"

Ikara rolled over in her bed, grabbing a fist-full of the tattered sheets draped over her body and, heaving a great yawn, throwing the sheets back. She couldn't deny, the Guild Sweetheart's voice wasn't the most desirable thing to hear upon first waking up. It couldn't be helped, though. She sat up in bed, stretching her arms wide and rolling her neck to soften the crick that had built up from her sleep before peering from the little alcove she called her room into the seascape beyond. She had overslept, judging by the way the sun bared down into her sleepy eyes. As she slid from her bed to find her armor and begin the day, she heard tiny footsteps scuttle across moist planks in the village square.

"Minion!" came the accompanied warning cry as the little Shakalaka burst into her room. "Minion! Lady want to give quest-quest to deliver tasty eggs!" Ikara was digging out the parts for her Rathalos armor from inside her storage chest until she stopped to absorb Cha-Cha's comment.

"Eggs?" she asked, watching the boy nod in response. "What kind?"

"Cha-Cha not sure," he mused, "but if we wait too long, then won't have cha-chance to take any."

"Fine," the hunter responded with a breathy sigh, letting her Rathalos armor drop into the chest before she began shifting again to find her trusty Loc Lac set. Her Shakalaka companion trotted to the wall of masks hanging in her room, browsing a bit before uttering a panicked whimper.

"Where Cha-Cha's pot mask!?" he cried, brushing back the other masks in hopes that perhaps he had just misplaced it. As he began searching the room, Ikara had shrugged into her Loc Lac armor, carrying her boots to her bed so she could tie them on. She wracked her brain as to the whereabouts of the missing mask as she buckled the straps.

"Oh!" she exclaimed suddenly as she was finishing up her boots. "I think Kayamba put it on last night. Go find him while I pick up our quest."

The young Shakalaka scrambled from the room, brandishing his staff in a menacing fashion, and left Ikara alone in her room once again. She tapped the heel of one of her boots against the planks below, shifting her sore feet inside them before standing from her bed and exiting her room. She tried to dodge the sight of Cha Cha catching up to his pot-headed companion - giving him a nice whack to the side of the head with his staff - and instead made her way to the quest counter. The Guild Sweetheart greeted her with a warm smile.

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" she chirped, reaching beneath the counter and pulling a slip of parchment to show the hunter. "This just came in for you. Should be simple enough, since all it is is a few herbivore eggs."

"Are you serious?" Ikara responded incredulously, dragging the paper across the counter toward her so she could read its instructions.

"Uh-huh!" the Sweetheart giggled, pointing at the fine print of the sheet and leaning across the counter casually. "Junior was talking about how the Chief was feeling a bit under the weather, and nothing helps a sick body feel better than a couple of eggs! I'm sure he'll be better in no time after that!" As she talked, Ikara chewed the inside of her lip in thought. She had received no interesting quests for the last week or so. Everything seemed to be about fishing for other people's food, cleaning up some excess vermin on the island, and delivering 'shrooms. There hadn't been any sightings of large monsters at all! She needed an excuse to practice using her new favorite weapon, but that would probably have to wait.

"You got it," she finally responded, concealing an irritated sigh and stuffing the paper into her kilt as she made her way back into her room to find a weapon to use. The space next to her item box contained weapon stands, though she tried not to let that space become to cluttered. She had a few pairs of dual blades hanging against the wall, probably in need of a bit of cleaning, and the long sword that the Argosy captain had given her a while back, but what she was looking for now was her new switch axe. Glinting a sharp red in the late morning sun, Ikara shifted the axe from behind the other two and wiped her hand down its hilt before slinging it over her shoulder and securing it against her back, folded neatly and ready. The smith called it Vermilingua, and he had a taste for exquisite weapon names, so she kept it that way.

Ikara shifted the folded axe against her back as she exited her room a second time, wetting her lips and pressing her fingers against them to whistle sharply in the direction of the two squabbling Shakalaka across the dock. They flinched at the sound and looked in her direction before following behind her as she made her way toward Moga Woods.

(Deserted Island/Moga Woods)

"Kayamba never understand how your cooking so bad," Ikara's blue-masked companion muttered before sinking his teeth into the remnants of a way-past well done steak, earning him a pebble thrown at him. Ikara was breaking her little fire pit down, scattering the twigs and sizzling rocks a bit to make nothing look too conspicuous, but she made sure not to let anything touch the two large eggs she had sitting against a tree.

"I'm getting better at cooking, though," she retorted halfheartedly, reaching into the small bag she kept at her hip and pulling out a thick handful of bright purple mushrooms. She clamped her nose shut with her free hand and guided the shrooms toward the opposite side of the tree, where a small stack of black, crispy steaks lay still steaming, and dropped them onto the pile. "Only three this time. Still, I can't take any chances with attracting starving creatures that'll eat something even as foul as those. That's why I brought my toadstools. The smell and taste should ward them off if they try to eat it."

"Maybe next time you not roast meat-meat right beside village," Cha-Cha piped in as he preened lightly at the feathers on his staff with his fingers. "Minion still have to put eggs in box before we skedaddle-laka."

"Psh, everyone's a critic," Ikara murmured to herself, having removed her mushroom hand glove before she picked the two eggs up and held them expertly. "You guys want to come with me to the delivery chest, or do you want to go back to the village? We're pretty much done here."

"You go ahead," Cha-Cha responded almost immediately, turning his gaze away afterward, as if distracted. "Cha-Cha find something shiny over there and want to go back and get it."

"Yam-_ba_!" Kayamba exclaimed irately, hopping to his feet suddenly and dashing in the direction his Shakalaka companion had been looking. "That not yours, Kayamba told you about that thing minutes ago! Nobody else can have it!" As Cha-Cha chased after the other boy, Ikara rolled her eyes silently, shifting her eggs in her arms and making her way to the site camp. With her armor on to help her feel as light as a feather, the trip from village entrance to delivery box was easy. Not only that, but the Aptonoth she was inevitably to come across on her way didn't even seem to mind her taking their eggs, almost as though they couldn't tell them from another sort of egg. Then again, Ikara herself was barely able to tell. She just knew that they sometimes felt softer than, say, a wyvern egg.

The delivery chest came into view as Ikara crossed the little man-made bridge separating the island from the the site camp, and she smiled. She never particularly enjoyed egg quests, but it always felt good to complete any sort of quest, egg or not. She crouched gently, setting each egg into the box with careful fingers, before standing once again and shutting the lid on the chest.

"Quest completed," she muttered to herself in satisfaction, turning on her heels and making her way back to the village entrance. As she crossed the bridge however, she saw the two Shakalaka making their way toward her as fast as their little legs would carry them. She was about to call out teasingly to them about how much they must have missed her already, until she caught just a glimpse of the pure terror beneath their masks.

"What happened..?" she asked once they were within earshot. They caught up to her soon, dropping their staffs and gasping for breath. "Weren't you guys about to go find that shiny thing you saw?"

"Kay...Kayamba find this," the blue-masked boy wheezed, holding up his hand to show the hunter a glittering gem. Ikara plucked it from his hands, holding it up to the sun to examine its faintly red hue. "We find this and look at it, and then...suddenly, big roar! We turn, and see big monster-!"

"Big Deviljho find us," Cha-Cha took over as Kayamba's voice collapsed into panting beneath his mask. "He see us and we run-run! Would have...come here if he didn't smell minion's burnt beast-feast. How we gonna...get back to village with big Deviljho in the way!?"


	2. Chase

Ikara and her two companions crept along the mountain wall away from the base camp and toward the entrance to Moga Village. The farther they got, the more clearly she began to hear the feral snarls that emitted from a large creature just out of her eyesight. It had to be a Deviljho, or the boys wouldn't be quite so skittish whenever a roar would tear through the air. She shook a bit as they drew nearer, her head swimming in thoughts. She had encountered monsters like this in the past, but never had they been so close to home. How was she going to get it to move away from the village without causing havoc? Sure, the monster wasn't fond of water, as far as her experience went, but with the right amount of flavor in the air, it might smell something in the village that would cause it to draw its attention toward the village instead of deeper into the woods.

"...Here's my plan," she spoke at length, shifting the gemstone that Kayamba had handed her in her pocket. "I'm gonna lure this guy away from the village so that everyone can remain safe. Here is what I want you two to do: wait for my signal. As soon as it spots me and starts coming after me, I want you run as fast as you can, and don't you _dare_ look back. Head for the village and tell them to take cover until either I come back or until it gets dark enough to where he'll go to sleep somewhere without bothering the village."

"B-But what about minion?" Cha-Cha asked gently, tugging lightly at her kilt in concern. "Deviljho stronger than other monsters. Minion might get hurt-hurt."

"Don't worry about me," she assured the Shakalaka with the best smile she could conjure. "All I'm gonna do it lure it away from the village enough to where everyone can feel safe again. Now...come on." The hunter gnawed on the inside of her lip fiercely as they rounded the rocky corner and beheld the enormous Deviljho defiantly eating away at her burnt meat, despite the toadstools scattered among it. Ikara swallowed hard before letting out a sharp whistle, which almost immediately drew the monster's attention. He turned to face her and her companions, snarling in irritation and stomping toward them.

"Go..!" she whispered to the two Shakalaka, nudging one with her foot urgently and sending them into a panicked sprint toward the village. The Deviljho stopped as the two ducked between his thin legs, making a gesture to turn and make chase. Without thinking, Ikara pulled the gemstone that Kayamba had given her from her pocket, winding back and aiming at the creature's head before lobbing it at him. It struck the side of his temple, earning her a bitter growl as he turned his attention back to her. After drawing his eyes down to examine the gemstone now lying on the ground, he lurched forward at her, roaring angrily, and Ikara's heart skyrocketed into her throat as she rolled to dodge his movement. Immediately, she ran in the opposite direction of the village, hoping the monster would follow her. Her desires were met as she heard pounding footsteps behind her, not allowing her even a moment to slow down.

Her thoughts raced as quickly as her legs did. Hopefully by the time she reached the more wet areas on the island, he would break away from chasing her. The longer she ran, however, and the more water she and the Deviljho began to encounter, it became apparent to her that this creature was set on chasing her down. She bit down hard on her lip as she reached behind her to feel the hilt of her switch axe. As the water drew up to above ankle depth, she swung the blade around, letting it unfold in midair before slicing against the monster's chest, coating the tip of her blade with fresh blood. The blow wasn't enough to seriously wound the monster, but it at least knocked him back in surprise long enough to allow her a bit of a gap between them. She continued her sprint, letting the axe rest once again against her back before she heard another feral roar. She peeked over her shoulder to see the Deviljho resuming his chase of her, but one thing seemed different. A dark and red haze blazed around his agape maw, ready to fire his dragon breath at her. Ikara dodged around startled Ludroth that had peeked out from their homes to see what all the fuss was about as she made her way even closer to the sea, her lungs burning, pleading for her to slow down. The powerful splashes from his feet dripping onto the back of her shoulders, however, let her know that there was no way she could slow down.

_Almost there_, she cheered herself on, breath coming in exhausted gasps as the sea came into view before her. She couldn't run for much longer. She wasn't even sure if she could make it to the water or not. She felt the monster's enraged breath on her back, its vengeful growl in her ears. She reached back once more to find her axe, and swung it around just as she did before. This time it slammed into the side of the Deviljho's head. If only her blade were straight it might have sunk into his skull a bit. Instead, the axe bounced off its target, slipping from her sweaty grip and spinning away from her to lodge itself in the sand, meters from her. Cursing under her breath, she kept going, despite the fiery sensation her lungs pulsed through her body. The Deviljho behind her inhaled sharply, slowing for a moment to aim his dragon breath, and Ikara leapt. She made a clumsy entry into the sea before her tired body wriggled its way into the water's depths just as the monster's breath escaped it jaws, causing the surface water above her to fizz menacingly. She could hardly breathe from all the running, but she stayed underwater as long as her breath would possibly allow, listening to the muffled bellows of the defeated Deviljho on the shore. When the sounds softened, she quickly made her way back to the surface, gasping loudly for breath and floundering in the water for a moment, seeing the creature finally beginning to lumber away. She panted hard, balling a fist in the water and punching the air with it in triumph. Perhaps now the creature would stay away from the village, at least for now. She slowly tread water in the direction of the shore, pulling herself limply onto dry land when the coast was clear and rolling onto her back, staring almost sleepily into the midday sky as she started to retain her breath again.

"Never again..." she panted to herself, turning her head to find her switch axe open and still partially buried in the sand, "...never again am I cooking near the village entrance."


	3. Antidote

Ikara's feet pounded against the grass with little care as she made her way slowly back to the Village. Her breath was still caught in her throat, her shoulder hurt from swinging her switch axe so hard, and she had no other desires but to find her bed and sleep the rest of the day away. Unfortunately, as she lifted her eyes to the sky and glanced at the position of the sun, it wasn't even close to being late enough for her to go to sleep. Perhaps when she returned and found something more pleasant to eat than her half-burnt meat, she would feel better.

It wasn't long before the welcoming gate of the Village came into view, and Ikara mustered a relieved smile against her cheeks. Finally, she would be able to dry off, find some food and relax for the rest of the day. As she stepped onto the pier leading into the village, she was met by the Chief's Son. As their eyes locked, he approached her briskly and threw his arms around her in a bear hug.

"Ikara, you made it back! We thought for sure that you were gonna get eaten by that Deviljho," he greeted her. Ikara made a slight face as Junior buried her head into his shoulder before swiveling her about to find that other villagers had gathered around to see her. She made her way to the plaza almost awkwardly, people making way for her as she passed. _Sheesh_, she thought, _I took on a Ceadeus and they made less of a fuss than they are, now._

"Cha-haaa!" she suddenly heard as she gazed over toward her little house. Two excited Shakalaka emerged and flocked to her, hopping a bit as they stood around her.

"Cha-Cha thought minion was goner!" the acorn-masked child chirped. "That Deviljho huge! Way too big for normal hunter to handle!"

"That's right," came the voice of the Chief behind Ikara. She turned to face him, her nose nearly bumping the pipe that protruded from his lips. He stooped in front of her, withdrawing the pipe from his mouth and giving a hearty exhale. "We saw the monster in the distance while you were out, kid. M'glad you drew him away when you did. He could've smelled anything here and probably would've destroyed the whole village. That's not a Deviljho that you can face, though."

"What do you mean?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Sure, she had never hunted a Deviljho on her own, but she had encountered plenty of them in different terrains who would interrupt her other hunts.

"I don't know how it got here, or where it came from, but that's not a high rank Deviljho," the Chief explained, scratching his bristly chin in thought. "No Deviljho that size could be high rank. Seems we have a G rank Deviljho right next door to us." The village grew significantly quieter as the Chief spoke. Gradually the old man made his way to a barrel, settling himself on it and taking another drag from his pipe. "I don't think this is the type of monster that you can handle yet, Ikara." A light pang of disappointment brushed against Ikara's heart as the Chief spoke. "If I happens to show up again, at least anywhere near the village, I might have to send for a more experienced hunter from the guild to take care of it. Until then, you'll keep doing quests as usual, Ikara. You'll tell me if you see 'em again, though, alright?" Gnawing on the inside of her lip for anything to retort with, Ikara gradually nodded in affirmation. "You've done a lot for us, Ikara," the Chief continued, seeing the defeat in her expression. "Don't think we don't believe in you. I'd take the creature on it if I was in better shape. Those days are over, though."

Ikara slid past the Chief politely, clenching at her stomach lightly. If she didn't relax soon, she feared she might grow sick to the stomach. She collapsed into a seat at the bar of the Canteen, smearing her palms against her tired face and peering between fingers at the Felyne Itinerant Cook behind the counter.

"Bonjour, good hunter," the cook greeted her, shifting his bandana on his head and leaning over the counter. "After a woozy hunt, one could use a meowty hunk of meat to raise ze spirits, non?"

"No, actually," she murmured, lifting a hand to thread her fingers through her hair and peering behind her to see that the crowd had thankfully begun to disperse, "I think I just need a drink right now. You still have ale, right?"

"Tanzian Ale is still on ze menu, oui," replied the Felyne. He began to mix her drink when he paused. "You know...zhere happens to be a sale on fish today, madame. Would you care to eat for free today?" he asked. After a moment, Ikara's lips tugged into a half-smile.

"Oh, alright, if it's what the cook recommends," she finally responded, earning a beam in the cook's eyes.

Ikara shifted her Wroggi Helm down on her head as a gust of wind traveled over the hills of the island. She looked in the distance, already seeing her target sloshing about lazily in the moonlit water. It was a bit rare for Purple Ludroth to visit the island, but when they did, it was always her job to dispose of them. The creature seemed in quite a docile mood this evening, so Ikara made her way up and away from the water clearing. The two Shakalaka behind her chirped in surprise, joining at her ankles and hopping impatiently.

"What minion think she doing!?" hissed Cha-Cha. "Ludroth right there! We directed to hunt-hunt, no?"

"Yes, we are, but he can wait a few minutes," responded Ikara, climbing her way to a higher altitude where she could find the only cave on the island. "But I was asked if I could bring some monster broth back. The Chief is still sick, and the only way we can get monster broth around here is by extracting it from Giggi. I want to go into the cave for just a little bit and retrieve some."

"But Cha-Cha hungry!" the boy retorted. "Minion got to eat before leaving and didn't give Cha-Cha or Kayamba a chance-chance!"

"Silly Cha-Cha right," muttered Kayamba, patting his tummy. "We should hunt Ludroth and return to village for food quick-like."

Ikara sighed, and reached into the bag on her side, snapping it open and pulling two glistening, pink organs from its depths.

"Here," she offered, holding the pink organs out to them, letting them take them eagerly. "I was saving these livers for a big fight with a tough monster. Plus, I wanted to make up for the terrible lunch you guys had to endure from me earlier today before things went wrong. If you guys will sit still and eat, I'll head to the cave, slay a few Giggi and be back to kick some Ludroth butt before you finish, okay?" The Shakalaka nodded before they nestled themselves against the rock wall, digging in voraciously. The hunter rolled her eyes and continued uphill so she could find one of the cave's entrances.

Her climbing led her to a shallow stream with a narrow underpass. She stepped into the water, almost feeling it flow against her boots, as she followed up stream, finally finding the entrance to the cave on the stream's bank. She shifted her switch axe against her back, readying herself, until she heard a gutteral growl. The sound startled her, and she stepped back in the water, losing her footing and landing with a loud splash onto her back. Gritting her teeth for a moment and cursing under her breath, she sat up and looked around for the source of the sound that had scared her so. As she removed her dripping helm, she had time to look straight into the eyes of a lounging Deviljho before she witnessed it lift its head. She reached back to grab her switch axe, scrambling to her feet and standing her ground. The Deviljho stared her down for a moment, growling at Ikara's threatening stance, but made no movement to get to its feet and pursue her. After long moments of examining each other, Ikara gradually released her grip on her axe, keeping wary that if it moved, she would run. Instead the Deviljho gave a satisfied snort through its nostrils and lowered its head once more to rest against the loamy ground. Ikara kept frozen, trying to calm her increased pulse by taking a moment to pride herself in being so close to a Deviljho without it trying to bite her head off - at least, not initially.

_What's the matter with this guy?_ she asked herself. She examined the creature, relaxing the muscles in her body a bit. Its body looked discolored, almost grey instead of the dark green she was used to seeing in a Deviljho. From its enormous maw she noticed that it had begun frothing at the mouth once it relaxed its head. She bit her lip. _It's still poisoned from earlier today. At this rate, it'll die out here without any care. Why didn't the toxins wear off after it chased me down? Does this mean that the Chief won't have to hire someone to take care of it? Does this mean I'll be responsible for taking down a G rank Deviljho by myself? _The thought actually hurt her. She looked into the creature's dull, red eyes. She could almost sense a spark of fear when their gazes met. She bit her lip once more, gradually drawing blood. Without thinking, she pulled a slab of raw meat from her pouch. The Deviljho shifted as she moved, wagging its head lightly and sending its frothy saliva everywhere. Ikara ignored its gesture, pulling also from her pouch a vial of one of the many antidotes she had brought along for the Ludroth hunt. She soaked the meat with the antidote and tossed it to him. She knew that even a sick Deviljho wouldn't resist a protein-rich snack. As it landed bluntly onto the ground at the monster's claws, she turned to meet back up with with the two Shakalaka that were no doubt finished eating by now. She heard the sound of the Deviljho devouring the meat and she clasped her fingers around her now empty vial until her knuckles were white.

_Why did I just do that?_ she asked herself, trying to hide her wide-eyed expression as she trotted back down the hill to Cha-Cha and Kayamba.


	4. Face-Off

Ikara pounded down the hill toward the water where she found two very satisfied Shakalakas patting their stomachs as they lounged against the stone walls. They saw her in the distance, taking their time to stand and grab their staffs to brace themselves for battle. Ikara shifted her eyes away from them as they met.

"Did minion find nice giggi to slaughter-laka?" Cha-Cha asked merrily, patting his full tummy again. The mention of slaughter gave Ikara goosebumps for whatever reason.

"N-No," she answered hesitantly, cursing herself silently for forgetting her initial motives. The Deviljho took her completely by surprise. "There uh...weren't any around, so I gave up after a while and came this way."

"Aw, have no fear," Kayamba chirped as he slid past Ikara to begin sauntering in the direction of the caves. "There plenty of time to fight monster. Great Kayamba help find giggi." Ikara shifted, her switchaxe digging suddenly into her back.

"_No_," she blurted, a bit too directly, which made the blue-masked Shakalaka stop and turn to her in concern. Ikara took a deep breath and reached back to move the switch axe, biting her lip and thinking quickly. "I-I'm sorry. I'm just a bit antsy. We don't fight poisonous monsters very often, so my mind is focused right now on taking that Purple Ludroth down," she lied the best the could. "Ludroth are usually easy for me to deal with, but this is a Purple one, so I'm a little bit more nervous. If it's okay with you guys, I think I'd just like to get this hunt over with so we can go home." Heaving a relieved sigh as her two companions relaxed once more, Ikara released the weapon on her back.

"Why minion not say so?" Cha-Cha giggled, adjusting his mask and preparing his game face. "We show Ludroth how it done-done."

With that, her tiny friends led her away from where she found the Deviljho and to an area lightly flooded by water, and there in the distance, where the water grew deeper and the sea was within reach, crawled the Purple Ludroth. Cha-Cha and Kayamba still trod in front of her as they approached the monster as quietly as they could. Ikara whipped out her switch axe just as the Ludroth heard the three of them sloshing through the ankle-deep water. He swung his head about to face them, opening his maw and letting his eagle-like roar tear through the air. The closer she got to the monster, however, a growing fear began to pulse inside of her. She splashed to a halt suddenly as something came to her, watching as the two Shakalaka charged into attack. _That thing is humongous!_ she thought to herself incredulously. Cha-Cha and Kayamba could barely reach the monster's crest, even with a great leap and the length of their staffs for added height. The Purple Ludroth struck Kayamba with his toxic claws, poisoning him and throwing him back into the shallow water. At that, Ikara sprinted into the fray, winding back her axe as she reached the monster's back and slamming it down into his tail. This earned her a pained shriek from the Ludroth, and it swung its wounded tail in retaliation, colliding with her chest hard and knocking her to the ground as well. With the breath knocked out of her from the blow, she wheezed and backed away to try and recover her composure, switching her gaze to the still-poisoned Kayamba. He looked terrible, pale and shaking as he weakly charged after the monster once more. _The poison shouldn't be weakening him this quickly, _she thought. She focused air into her lungs and called out to Cha-Cha._  
_

"We need an antidote dance, now!" she wheezed just loudly enough for him to hear. The Shakalaka didn't seem to hear her at first as he wildly swung his staff against the Purple Ludroth's claws, raging each time they deflected off the strong surface.

"Give Cha-Cha a moment," he retorted, winding back his staff for another blow before dodging the Ludroth's bite," Purple monster not feeling mighty-laka pain yet!" Ikara shifted her gaze back to Kayamba, who was about to drop to his knees. Ikara panicked for a moment, opening her pouch and digging around frantically to find an antidote for her companion.

"No, Cha-Cha," she called out a bit more strongly. "We need one _now_. Kayamba won't last much longer." Almost reluctant to back away from the monster, Cha-Cha fled. As the Ludroth began to make chase, Ikara flung her switch axe at the creature, bouncing off his claws and tumbling into the water. It did no cutting damage, which disappointed Ikara immensely, but it got his attention. He shifted his piercing gaze to her, inhaling deeply before spewing a rather gruesome wad of poison at her. She rolled to dodge it, scrambling to her feet as she went to retrieve her weapon. When it was safely in her hands again, however, she flinched and let out a pained cry as the Ludroth sneaked up behind her and swiped at her with his claws. It hurt terribly, far worse than she remembered in the past from such a creature. _I don't understand_, she moaned silently, swinging her axe behind her and slicing through only a small portion of the Ludroth's smooth, spongy hide. _Ludroths are easy to overcome. Why is this one so tough?_ Catching sight of Kayamba back on his feet and slamming his staff against the Ludroth's back and redirecting his attention, Ikara heaved a deep sigh of relief, shifting the gears in her axe to where, when she swung the weapon about, it unfolded into its sword mode.

"Cha-Cha make retreat for now - Ludroth too strong-strong!" the tired Shakalaka cried as it rapidly burrowed a hole and hopped down into its depths to escape. Ikara wore a defiant face as he left. _This can't be just a rough day_, she pressed, dragging her heavy sword through the shallow water toward the Ludroth as he tried to catch Kayamba between his teeth. She arched the sword over her head and sliced the weapon against his tail with a roar of her own. The Ludroth whipped its tail to brush her off, and she shifted footing to avoid the attack. Winding her sword back again she rammed into his back, getting it caught in the flesh and making the monster scream. As she tugged on it, the Ludroth rolled, flinging both her and the sword into the water. Before she could get to her feet, the monster had mustered another ball of poison, which he spit at her, hitting her in the back of the head and making her slam her temple against the hard surface beneath the shallow water. She nearly blacked out with the collision, but tried to get to her feet, hoping a concussion wouldn't hurt her too much in the fight. She looked around frantically for her sword, until she heard a snarl in the distance, one that didn't quite sound like the Ludroth. Ikara moaned in panic, hoping she wouldn't have a Rathian on her hands as well.

"Minion!" Kayamba cried to her as he joined her. "Minion, get your dung bombs!" Ikara tried to clear her head. The Ludroth was distracted by a newcomer to the area. A Deviljho stepped into the shallow water, which came merely to the tops of his claws, and glowered menacingly at the Ludroth. Ikara froze. "It's the monster from yesterday!" Kayamba hissed before clambering into the ground, digging a hole and leaving Ikara alone with the two enormous monsters. Ikara dared not move as she looked into the Deviljho's eyes and saw a silent rage. _He was just poisoned earlier,_ she thought. _He certainly made a quick recovery from the state I found him in._ The Purple Ludroth stood its ground, albeit shakily, as the green monster approached him and slowly backed him into a corner against the stone walls surrounding the watery area. Once the Deviljho stopped, Purple Ludroth screeched and swiped a clawed hand at the Deviljho's feet. The bigger monster stepped back, even though the claws didn't even come near him, before lifting a foot, letting it tower over the paralyzed Ludroth for a moment before it came crashing down on the smaller monster. The Deviljho's claws wrapped around the Purple Ludroth's breaking body as he put his weight on him. Moments passed, Ikara still frozen in another corner of the area with an awestruck expression on her face. The Deviljho finally lifted his foot off the Ludroth, watching to make sure it didn't move when he turned around. The monster found Ikara in her corner and stopped, gazing at her. It took her a moment to realize, actually, that he wasn't staring at her, but at her weapon. Slowly, Ikara reached behind her to sheath her switch axe, the Deviljho's eyes and body never moving or changing. When the weapon was put away, he finally turned from her and headed away from her in the direction of the Jaggi's lair. Ikara kept frozen for a moment before realizing what had just happened. She looked over at the still Ludroth before jogging over to it through the shallow water to examine it.

"He killed the Ludroth for me," she whispered to herself.

"Why big Deviljho not try to eat-eat minion?" came a voice behind her. It was Cha-Cha, accompanied by Kayamba. The two slowly approached the Ludroth with her and looked up at her curiously. "Tasty hunters always on Deviljho's menu."

"I don't know," she said, almost more to herself than to them. Silently, she took her carving knife and began to dig into the corpse of the Purple Ludroth, picking from it a few items that she could find useful back at the village. When she finished, she turned to the two still curious Shakalaka and said, "Please...don't tell anyone about this hunt, okay? We go back to the village, tell them it was a success, show them our carves, and be done with it. Nobody mentions the Deviljho."

"But Chief man said that if Deviljho pops up again, village must call in G-Rank hunter," Kayamba retorted. "We should tell."

"Please," she repeated, on the verge of sounding desperate this time. "He...seems different to me. Different from other Deviljhos, I mean. I think you'll understand in time, just...please, keep this between the three of us, if only for right now." Cha-Cha and Kayamba were silent for a moment, examining the damage that the Deviljho had made on the Ludroth in contrast to what they managed to do.

"Cha-Cha predict that Deviljho not only monster that G-Rank right now, but...okay," Cha-Cha mused. "As long as big monster not get near village again, Cha-Cha not tell."

"Kayamba hope the same thing...but Purple Ludroth too big to handle right now," Kayamba added. "Can we stick to smaller monster from now on?" The hunter gave a small roll of the eyes and smiled.


End file.
